Tick...tick...tick...We're nearing the end of the 2014 MLS Regular Season! It's becoming more and more apparent that this is a six-horse race for five spots in the Western Conference. Here's the weekly look at the Western Conference playoff picture as the MLS week gets underway tonight:

Three wins on the bounce for Seattle Sounders FC who easily dispatched a hapless Chivas USA side before enjoying the weekend off. A tough match at home against Real Salt Lake awaits Seattle who can put RSL pretty much permanently behind them in 2014 with a win.

A draw at lowly Montreal on Wednesday will be some dropped points the Galaxy will want to have back. A point behind Seattle with one more game played suggests the Sounders are still in the driving seat for Supporters Shield, but the teams still have a game left against each other. LA has a tough Cali Clasico on Sunday, a game in which Landon Donovan is suspended.

Real Salt Lake scored a huge 2-1 win over our FC Dallas last weekend, a win that creates some daylight between them and FCD for that third playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Supporters Shield certainly isn't out of reach for Jeff Cassar's side, but they'll need a huge result in Seattle this weekend to keep those hopes alive.

FCD lost their second consecutive road game at RSL last weekend, a result that likely ends Supporters Shield hopes. With RSL playing at Seattle and a favorable home matchup, however, that four point gap to third place could definitely be tightened this weekend. A win over Vancouver would all but clinch a playoff spot for

Vancouver finally broke their winless and scoreless streak in a much-needed 2-0 win at home against San Jose on Wednesday night. The Whitecaps are back above the dreaded red line, two points up on Portland with equal games played so the next seven games are going to be a dogfight.

If you're a playoff team, you need to win that game at home against San Jose. All the hard work of their win at Vancouver what somewhat undone by this clunker of a result. With just three of their last seven at home and CONCACAF Champions League complicating the travel schedule, it's really going to be tough on Portland down the stretch. They need a win this weekend.

Note: We dropped the Rapids from playoff contention as their chances are now less than 5%. Sorry guys, the dream is over for 2014.

With the Whitecaps coming to Toyota Stadium for their only visit of 2014 on Saturday night, and the wild success of our Toad To Brazil 2014 World Cup live streams, we thought what better time than to try our hand at an FC Dallas Fish Cam!

Vancouver has visited Toyota Stadium four times since joining the league in 2011, earning exactly zero points from those four matches, so we thought we'd stream the audio from those four matches throughout the day on Wednesday to go with our little fishies swimming to their heart's delight.

But if listening to FCD victories at Toyota Stadium isn't enough for you, we want to get you in to Saturday's big game as we make our push towards the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Wednesday at 10:00AM, 12:00PM, 2:00PM & 4:00PM we will start our four home wins over Vancouver and insert a secret key word on the screen during a goal of each match. Be the first one to Tweet the secret key word @FCDallas using #FCDFishCam and you'll win a pair of tickets to Saturday's match plus a piece of FCD signed gear/! There's four games so that means four pairs of tickets to give away.

To help you out a little bit, here are the four match recap articles from our four wins over Vancouver Whitecaps FC:

Last weekend wasn't terribly kind to FC Dallas as Oscar Pareja's men lost for the first time since May 31st, falling 1-0 to Chicago. That coupled with two wins by Los Angeles and a win from Seattle certainly doesn't help FCD's quest for a top-3 finish, but Real Salt Lake failing to win in San Jose provides some relief, especially with Saturday's showdown at Rio Tinto looming. Here's the weekly look at the Western Conference playoff picture as the MLS week gets underway tonight:

A mid-season swoon seems to be in the rearview mirror for Sigi Schmid's side who secured all three points at home against Colorado last weekend despite not playing at their highest level. The Sounders have a two-point lead over Los Angeles with nine games left on their schedule and face a trip to Chivas USA on Wednesday night before taking the weekend off from MLS action.

The league was put on notice this week. The Galaxy are officially red-hot. A two-match week of games at StubHub Center saw Los Angeles earn all six points with blowout victories over DC United and Chivas USA. They have another relatively straight-forward test on Friday night against Colorado and could take over first place in the Western Conference soon. They look like the team to beat right now.

Real Salt Lake won't be too disappointed with a point from a tricky trip to San Jose, but the fact remains that Jeff Cassar's side let a valuable opportunity to gain three points on FCD slip away from them. The draw at San Jose simply makes Saturday's upcoming game between RSL and FCD that much bigger. Given the form of Los Angeles and the points plus game in hand of Seattle, RSL and FCD look to be fighting it out for that third playoff spot in the west.

There's no reason for panic after a 1-0 loss at Chicago in what was really a strange game from the start. With all eight games remaining against the top six of the Western Conference, FCD will have to earn their way to the top of the West, but these tough games will certainly prepare them well for playoffs. FCD has had RSL's number this year so far and Saturday will be another tough test in Rio Tinto.

Wins in August don't come much bigger than that one for Caleb Porter's side. The Timbers walked into BC Place and thoroughly demolished the Whitecaps 3-0 last weekend to jump above them into the 5th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They're certainly not out of the woods, but according to Sports Club Stats they raised their chances of making the playoffs by a whopping 20% with the win.

Boy that was quite the surprising result for the Whitecaps. We know how they struggle on the road, but the side is typically one of the strongest in MLS at home. They'll need to recover quickly from Sunday's loss with a tough DC United side coming to town this weekend in a match they really need to win.

There were plenty of positives to take from Saturday's 1-0 loss at Seattle, but we're getting to the time of the season where moral victories don't count for much. The losing streak is at six with just one win in their last ten and a trip to high-flying Los Angeles on Friday night won't provide any respite. Let's just say the Rapids are huge Earthquakes fans this weekend.